{ 2.8 hours… later.
Zombies Required as 2.8 Hours Later comes to Leeds. Cult chase game seeks volunteers for Zombie School
The hunt is on for volunteers to take part in a cult zombie chase game, which is coming to Leeds in September.
Zombie gore fest, 2.8 Hours Later. is to be unleashed on the West Yorkshire city over the weekend of 22nd September, threatening to turn hundreds of its usually mild mannered residents into the bloodthirsty undead.
In preparation for the invasion, the game’s creators, SlingShot, are now calling for volunteers willing to be turned in to zombies for the weekend. Selected volunteers will be sent to zombie bootcamp to be trained how to lurk, groan and chase convincingly – and safely.
2.8 Hours Later is a thrilling night time chase game devised by Bristol game creators, SlingShot. Played across an inner city backdrop, it sees multiple secret locations transformed into zombie film sets and populated by a cast of survivors, some good, some not so good.
Players are sent forth in waves after dark to outwit and outrun zombies as they race from one location to the next, hunting for clues to the whereabouts of Resistance HQ. Using their mobiles, they are also able to call or text in to get game updates and safety information.
The game was premiered last year at Bristol’s igfest 3, the world’s largest pervasive games festival, and was a sell-out success, and a thousand tickets were sold in a second outing at this year’s festival in May. It has been described as “completely fantastic and bonkers” by games review site, Beefjack.com, and is gaining a cult following, with hundreds of fans following the game via Facebook and signed up to its mailing list.
Now, thanks to the support of Art in Unusual Spaces, Leeds City Council and Leeds' LSx Festival of Technology, the game is coming to West Yorkshire, in what will be the first stage of a planned UK-wide tour.
“We’re really excited to be able to tour 2.8 Hours Later, and it’s all down to the enthusiasm of the people of Leeds,” says Simon Evans, who along with Simon Johnson founded Bristol-based games production company, SlingShot, in 2008. “We’ve had a terrific response whenever we’ve played this game as people just love zombies and they love being scared out of their wits. Being able to actively take part means players can get completely immersed in the action, which is a very different experience to just watching something on a screen,” he says.
The LSx Festival of Technology is helping to support the Leeds event. LSx founder, Imran Ali, says: “The notion of large scale urban gaming has always been something I've wanted to experiment with, so I knew we had to bring 2.8 Hours Later to Leeds!
“’Cities as platforms’ is one of LSx's core philosophies and we very much see Leeds as an experimental ‘beta’ city.
“By hosting 2.8 Hours Later in September, we're planning to subvert and ‘hack’ Leeds' landmarks, residents, institutions, media and infrastructure so players can use an entire city to experience and tell some (hopefully) terrifying and fun stories!”
In addition to the zombie hordes, volunteers are also being sought as marshalls, actors for zombie set pieces, and checkpoint managers. For further information or to volunteer, please call 0117 930 4516 or email zombies@slingshoteffect.co.uk.
2.8 Hours Later will be taking place in Leeds from 22-24th September from 7pm. Tickets are £25 (£22 concs) and are available now from the website: http://2.8hourslater.com/
SlingShot is talking to other cities about a further tour dates and will post updates on the game’s Facebook page:
Simon Johnson and Simon Evans are available for interview. Please contact Emma Chappel on emmachappel@live.com or 07776 102 614.
Notes for editors
To see the beefjack.com review in full click here:
http://beefjack.com/features/l4d-irl-the-real-world-survival-horror-game-2-point-8-hours-later/For further information, dates, reviews and images, go to the 2.8 Hours Later website: http://2.8hourslater.com/
https://www.facebook.com/2.8HoursLaterSlingShot is an award-winning Bristol-based games developer and consultancy. For further information on the full range of games they offer go to their website: http://slingshoteffect.co.uk/
Igfest is an annual pervasive games festival taking place in Bristol.
http://igfest.org. There are seven other such festivals in the world, which take place in New York, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Pittsburgh and Krems, but Bristol’s igfest is the largest.igfest is supported by the Arts Council England, Watershed and Bristol City Council.
The LSx Festival of Technology is a series of monthly and annual events showcasing the people, projects and places at the bleeding edge of emerging ideas in tech.
Bringing thought leaders to the city and also showcasting Leeds' own technology and innovation scene, LSx is largely oriented around d programme of regular meetups, conferences, symposiums and an annual Spring festival.
In the four years since the inaugural LSx2008, over 30 events have been organised, many in collaboration with tech's biggest brands, including TED and O'Reilly Media.
More recently, LSx has been leading 'civic labs' on open data, coworking and local journalism. http://www.lsx.co/
Art in Unusual Spaces is an organisation which programmes and facilitates the use of disused and temporarily dormant spaces by artists – most often in city centre shop units – across Leeds.
Get your tickets from 2.8hourslater.com
}
